Young People’s Arc MusicSpace Wellbeing Project

A dedicated group of young people explored improvisation, song and lyric writing and recording skills from September to December 2017 with Manchester-based musician and facilitator Aidan Jolly at Arc Centre, Stockport.

The results are amazing – each person created an individual piece of music based on their choice of instrumentation and their lyrics. Every one is original and in a different style. None of the young people knew each other before the project began and, most incredibly, none of them had any experience of creating their own music previously.

Aidan said during the project, “The thing that has surprised me the most is how quickly the young people have got into music making, and what they’ve managed to achieve in the short amount of time we’ve had. Sometimes people are really anxious about trying new things or about putting ideas into words, but this group have really worked hard, to learn the guitar or the keyboard, and to create lyrics that say something about how they’re feeling and what’s going on in their lives.”

One participant said after the project block ended, “I really want to do this again so I can have more time to play the different instruments. Even though I felt a bit awkward I still want to come back.”

The project has a dedicated Instagram account @ArcMusicSpace and the songs have been added to Arc's Soundcloud at www.soundcloud.com/ArcStockport

You can also visit the Arc blog at www.Arc-Centre.org/category/blog or follow on social media via the website for frequent updates.